Ousmane Dieng's Disappointing Summer League Opener Could Spell Trouble

The Oklahoma City Thunder have kicked off their Summer League action with the opening game of the Salt Lake City Classic battling the Philadelphia 76ers in their first of seven games this summer that serve as a developmental tool, with a roster full of interesting options.

As the Thunder opened up their Summer League action with a loss to the 76ers, one of the most interesting storylines on the roster was third-year forward Ousmane Dieng.

The lone disappointment on the night was Dieng, the 2022 NBA Lottery Pick reverted back to some bad habits shying away from contact, and at times looking out of place on the floor without any true chutzpah. This is a stark difference from the strides he made as a player with the Oklahoma City Blue, and at 21 years old the clock is ticking on more performances like this one.

In this game against the 76ers, Dieng posted just 10 points, five assists, six rebounds and three turnovers to go along with 3-for-14 shooting from the floor, 1-for-4 from beyond the arc and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe.

Dieng struggled defensively making an impact aside from his two steals often times blown past or just gone through - offensively the missed easy looks continued and proved costly after being set up by his teammates. For the first time in a long time - the 2022 Lottery Pick looked lost and at times shied away from the action.

While it was not all bad - his game featured in a few high-quality tough passes - there was more bad than good in night one of his third summer league. Who knows what the disconnect is from last year's G League campaign that culminated in him winning Finals MVP to not even being able to translate it to the Summer stage, but the forward has to improve fast from the outside looking in.

Though this is not exactly a nail in the coffin, the Thunder understood from the moment they turned the card into Adam Silver with Dieng's name on it that the forward would be a project, and one Summer League game does not erase a strong season of development down on the farm. However, at some point, this has to click or the youngster is trending the way of the likes of Tre Mann and Aleksej Pokusevski.

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